Curiosity Killed the Cait
by Nietzsche's Itch
Summary: Reeve has no qualms about talking to him, and Sephiroth is curious to know why. Post A/C. Sephiroth/Reeve.  Part of the Redeeming Features series.


_Title: Curiosity Killed the Cait_

_Fandom: Final Fantasy VII_

_Author: Nietzsche's Itch_

_Characters: Sephiroth, Reeve_

_Genre: Romance, Friendship_

_Rating: T_

_Status: Oneshot, Complete_

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII_

_Summary: Reeve has no qualms about talking to him, and Sephiroth is curious to know why. Post A/C._

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Sephiroth blinked blearily, turning away from his monitor as a steaming cup of coffee was set down beside him. He nodded gratefully.

"Thank you Reeve," he said. Reeve gave him a warm smile, still startling after all this time. Almost a year to the day that Jenova had revived him through Kadaj, and fought Cloud using his body, the powers that be had decided certain people had earned the right to a second chance, and Zack, Angeal, Genesis, Lazard, Sephiroth and Aeris had been thrown back into the world of the living with nary a word of explanation.

It was a thunderstruck Cloud who witnessed their arrival in the church, floating up from the depths of the pool. Fortunately he spotted Zack first, and the playful man had him well in hand when he spotted Sephiroth, hovering tersely beside Genesis. The outcome could have been much worse than it was, had Cloud not had such unparalleled trust in Aeris and Zack.

The situation was explained, as well as the near total control Jenova had exercised in the battles where Cloud had thought himself to be fighting Sephiroth, it was only him in appearance. By the end of it all, Cloud's anger had mostly abated, and he had viewed Sephiroth with something akin to pity. He disliked being pitied, but it was better than being hated.

The problem of the others reactions was soon solved, Aeris's return soothing all the mental wounds her death had inflicted. Her support for Sephiroth's rebirth was acknowledged, and while they still gave the impression of being cornered when in the same room as him for some time, they grew to like Angeal, and grew frustrated at Genesis who, however repentant he might have been for past mistakes, was still as difficult to get along with as he had been long ago. His patience with the redhead seemed to allay fears that he would be tempted into initiating a killing rampage at the least provocation, because if nothing else, Genesis at the height of his theatrics could drive a man to murder.

He found an unlikely companion outside of their niche of the living dead in Vincent, who he discovered to be another of Hojo's victims, and the lover of his real mother, Lucrecia. He could not claim to be impressed by descriptions of the woman, no matter how reverentially Vincent spoke of her, she had denied him the right to a happy childhood, free from experimentation. To that end, he had suspicions about his parentage. Theoretically, he could be his father, and after hearing of her scientific curiosity, he did not believe it to be above her to lie to Vincent if he had asked her whether he was Sephiroth's father.

They had tentatively agreed to have a blood test done, and were awaiting the results. He did hope Vincent Valentine was his father, not only because it would eliminate one stigma, the curse of acknowledging Hojo as a parent, but because the other man had sought him out, and shared details of his own suffering at the scientists hands in order to make Sephiroth feel less like a monster. Whatever happened, he would still be a kindred spirit.

After Vincent, notably one of the more vigilant members of the group, had accepted him, the rest slowly began to follow suit. Cid, married to the sky as much as to Shera, had engaged him in discussion about the mechanics of flight. A strange topic to bond over, but the pilot freely admitted to being envious of his wing. Sephiroth decided that if Cid could be so enthused about something he had always regarded as repulsive and abnormal, then perhaps he could allow himself to acknowledge its beneficial attributes.

Then there was Yuffie, who had flopped down beside him without warning one day and begun loudly extolling Genesis's many faults, in particular the habit of carrying around and quoting Loveless which had persisted into his second life. Sephiroth had told her where he kept the book when it was not on his person, and she had declared him to be her best friend forever before rushing off to plan the heist.

Surprisingly, Tifa was next. She had watched how he interacted with his friends, and did not try to dominate them. He behaved like a normal person around them, and she had never been able to deny those big green eyes of her friend and sister, not even when she said he was not the person who had murdered her. Now, she was his confidante, and friend.

Nanaki had been ambivalent on the whole matter, not seeing anything threatening about his behaviour this time around. Oftentimes, on nights when he could not find sleep, and read by the dying embers of the fire, the canine would join him and they would sit in comfortable silence as he read.

Barret was stubbornly antagonistic, until Sephiroth yanked Marlene out of the path of an out of control truck which would have hit her. Since then, the man could not praise him enough, and often invited him to drink with him.

The Turks were in two minds, but Reno at least seemed to have no fear of him, and teased him regularly. Lazard helped with this, inadvertently by his growing relationship with Rufus. The young president was just starting to learn what it was like to have family who actually cared about him, and to this end he was willing to acquiesce to almost anything Lazard asked for, including calling off the Turks.

Reeve required no explanation, for from the day they had met, about a week after their resurrection, he had never treated Sephiroth as though he were anything more or less than a man and later, a friend. When the issue of future plans cropped up in conversation, Reeve offered him a contract working with the WRO. His part in the Meteor crisis had never been revealed, and he was granted a slight measure of anonymity as a result. The people there would still know who he was, but they would not hate him for it. He agreed, and found more satisfaction in being Reeve's assistant than he had ever done as Shinra's pet killer.

"You looked like you needed a break," Reeve commented. Sephiroth snorted quietly, amused by the understatement.

"I need a vacation," he joked, blowing strands of silver hair out of his face as he reached for his drink. Reeve could not help but follow the movement with his eyes, and then quickly looked away before he was caught staring. Not that he was not worth staring at, because he _was_. Sephiroth was stunning, aesthetically speaking, but there was so much more to him that excited him the better he got to know the man.

Reeve chuckled at his grievance, dragging a chair over so that he could sit with him. "No rest for the wicked I'm afraid, we have several reconstruction projects to complete before winter sets in," he sighed. Sephiroth comically allowed his head to hit the desk.

"Don't hurt yourself," Reeve protested, despite knowing that such a little thing would not hurt Sephiroth. The warrior raised his head and smirked in amusement. He was not offended, even if the concern was unnecessary, it was nice to be treated like everyone else.

Sephiroth straightened up. "What's on tomorrows agenda?" he asked.

"Rufus is going to open a hospital in eastern Midgar with Yuffie. Its a publicity stunt really, Rufus would suffice, but its supposed to represent cooperation between New-Shinra and the state of Wutai," he explained. Sephiroth nodded, trying not to think about his part in worsening relations between the two in the Wutai war. Reeve, ever empathic sensed his darkening mood, and soon turned to the conversation to lighter matters.

Sephiroth smiled absently as he listened to Reeve detail his plans to introduce an adult education initiative to the slums. Before, he would have scoffed at these aspirations, but he was learning that what Reeve set his mind to, usually worked out better than even he anticipated. He loved his work, and seeing how it benefited the people of Midgar. He was inspirational, and did not receive the credit he deserved.

His steady, nonjudgmental presence was a comfort in and of itself, and Sephiroth had been grateful time and time again for his kindness. There was no place he would rather be right now, than exactly where he was, with pleasant company and a hot cup of coffee and a normal life, or as normal as it got.

"Reeve?" he began "when I...came back, why did you accept me as fast as you did?"

There was a short silence before he answered. "I should have thought that was clear Sephiroth, you had done nothing that would make _not_ accept you," he said, mildly bewildered at the randomness of the question.

He watched as Sephiroth frowned. "You were the quickest one to do so, I merely wondered," the ex-general stated uncomfortably. Reeve sensed a little reassurance was in order. Sephiroth was not weak by any means, but he was occasionally vulnerable, and sometimes needed reminding that he did deserve to be here.

"You had enough people breathing down your neck, I wished to befriend you," he said kindly. Sephiroth relaxed slightly, but his expression was still uncertain.

"That was the only reason?" he pressed. Reeve hesitated.

Self-consciously fidgeting with the hem of his coat he replied "It was, then," contemplating whether or not he dared admit the other reason.

"What's changed?" Sephiroth asked quietly, watching Reeve intensely. He did not need to be told it was difficult to keep eye contact with him, the strangeness of his eyes was lost on no one, but Reeve had never had a problem holding his gaze, and now he was avoiding his eyes.

The director sighed in defeat. "Do you wish to know?" Sephiroth nodded, and Reeve began to lean forward, hoping desperately that he was not about to make a mistake that would destroy a valued friendship.

Sephiroth made a choked sound as Reeve leant in to capture his lips, utterly surprised by the move. Stunned, he did not immediately push him away, and when a coaxing tongue ran gently along his lower lip, he made his decision, and parted his lips just a little. Reeve was gentle, he noted, even though being somewhat inexperienced in such matters he could tell. Curiously, he pressed into the touch, and began to kiss back. A hand laid on his shoulder, tangled in his hair, and Sephiroth cautiously wrapped an arm around Reeve's shoulders to bring them closer together.

Reeve tried not to smile as Sephiroth began to reciprocate, and even purred slightly as he deepened the kiss. He let his other hand rest lightly on the other mans hip and started slightly when Sephiroth moved to finger the ends of his hair, and caress the skin at the nape of his neck. When they finally had to break away for air, they stayed like that, almost embracing though not quite.

"I did not expect that answer," Sephiroth said humorously, grinning when Reeve coughed and spluttered. "But I'm glad you told me."

Reeve looked askance at him. "Really?"

Sephiroth smiled. "Really, and in fact, I would quite like to hear it again," he said meaningfully. Reeve was uncertain for a moment, before he saw the playful glint in green eyes and chuckling, leant forward to initiate another kiss that was far less tentative than the first.

Meanwhile Cait Sith, heading back to base after a profitable morning helping Yuffie repossess materia from unwary passersby (she would return them eventually, she just wanted to teach them a lesson in caring for the precious items), had scaled the building to reach Reeve's office window, curious to know what he got up to in Cait's absence. About to call out his customary cheerful greeting, he stopped dead at the sight of the kissing pair. Not being equipped with functions that dealt with witnessing ones creator effectively being divested of his tonsils, and enjoying it, his circuits fried, smoke billowed out from his ears, and he fell with a lamenting yowl to the pavement below.

He moved away reluctantly. "Did you hear that?" he asked. Sephiroth mock glared at him, hair mussed from the teasing ministrations, mouth red and kiss bruised and sporting a delightful, if faint flush that made him appear much younger than his years.

"Unless its am earthquake or something similarly catastrophic that requires us to move then no, I didn't hear anything," he deadpanned, and kissed Reeve again. He was starting to get the hang of this and found that he liked kissing Reeve rather a lot, and being kissed by him. He could get used to this.

And that was how curiosity killed the Cait. Until Reeve rebuilt him of course.


End file.
